downloaded a new preset called a Holga Dark Spot and tried it out on this image of a white rose taken a few days ago

Bambi

07-14-2010, 08:19 AM

beautiful Ed. I love how do you process these roses. Care to share your technique? :fingerscr

edG

07-15-2010, 05:04 AM

Thanks Bambi and yes I will try to outline my way of working through an image from raw to finished jpeg - hopefully later tonight as I am on my way to work in a few minutes.

JAS_Photo

07-15-2010, 09:26 AM

Pretty image, Ed! Love the colours here.

edG

07-16-2010, 07:02 AM

Here are the basic steps I use to process an image:

1) shoot only in raw/nef

2) convert raw files to uncompressed TIF using Nikon's ViewNX to a folder for that day - no image manipulaton. Save raw/nef files to separate folder. Delete any files that are poor quality, composition at this time.

3) Import TIF file(s) into Lightroom 3

4) Pick an image to work on and run mouse slowly over presets and watch effect in navigator window - when I see something I like I bring it into the main workspace. If nothing catches my eye using a preset the process/flow still remains the same

5) In the develop section the first area I address is Tone, beginning with the Black slider (usually bump this 5 to 10). Then I will move the recovery slider about double the black move. I might add a little fill light.

6) Next I adjust the Clarity slider in Presence section - usually 15 -35, then Vibrance- usually drop it to -3 and the finally Saturation - usually drop this anywhere from -5 to -65 (depending on what I am seeing).

7) Then I adjust Tone Curve - usually begin with Shadow (drop a few points), then darks (down a bit), then Light (can go either way) and finally Highlights (again can go either way).

8) I normally do not touch the HSL/Luminance/Saturation slider - unless a preset has done it already.